Fire Scarred *Un-Edited Version*

Chapter Three

Later that night, I lay on my bed restless. Usually I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, but that wasn't the case tonight. The moonlight came through my window casting long shadows after everything. After lunch earlier that day, I had been sent to Ms. Dobbs, the consular here at Woodland Creek, to try to find a way to regain my memory and figure out what I was. After a few failed mental exercises that were supposed to jog my memory, I fled the claustrophobic office in a rage. I was tired of all the questions and being told to think harder. After dinner, I overheard Ms. Dobbs reporting to Dad that I was very irritable and overly sensitive at the moment. But, according to her, it would only be temporary and my memory should come back shortly.<i> </i>Then we could figure out<i> who</i> I was<i>. If only</i>. Now, I laid on my bed retrying for what felt like the thousandth time to bring back my memory. Ms. Dobbs told me to concentrate on my latest solid memory of that night and slowly inch my way forward. "Try to build off it," she said. I recalled floating on my back in the water. Then blackness. I saw Sage's body limp in the water. I didn't know what happened to her. Blackness. The boy with the green eyes. "Get away from her," he'd hissed. Darkness. Two eyes changing color. Nothing. Then everyone peering down at me like I was a freak. 

I opened my eyes, my head pounding. The same memories. My only memories. I willed myself to try again, but my mind wouldn't obey. Instead it began to study one part of my memory. When I had been walking through the crowd to the tank and I had first caught the boy's eyes. Even now, something felt familiar about them. At that moment when I first saw him, I had only noticed his eyes. Going back to that scene, I tryed to look back at his whole face. But all I could precisely make out were his eyes. 

Shaking my head, I tried to clear my thoughts away. The next thing I knew it was morning and my alarm clock was blaring. I rolled over and shut it off. Before I knew it, I was asleep again.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out with no response. 

My feet padded across the wooden floor of the kitchen. I stuck my head under the sink faucet and turned the water on, sucking it down in greedy gulps. Wiping my face on the back of my arm, I turned off the sink. 

"Mom?" Just as the word left my mouth, I spotted the note hanging on the fridge. 

<i> Coralynn-</i> 

<i> Didn't want to wake you. Seemed like you were finally sleeping well. Gone for classes. See you later. Go to your normal classes once you're up and have eaten something. They're expecting you. Don't go anywhere but straight to class. Have a good day. </i> 

<i> -Dad</i> 

I reread Dad's note, studied his sloppy penmanship, his sentence fragments. Silently, I slipped back into my room. 

It was about three in the afternoon. In all my memory, I had never slept past ten.<i> Are my sleeping habits changing like my eyes? </i>I wondered as I changed clothes. After brushing my hair up into a ponytail, I headed outside into the crisp fall air. I paused on the porch debating my options. Go to classes that I'm way to smart for or meander the wilderness? The first sounded like the right thing to do, but not nearly as entertaining as the second. Slowly, I inched my way down the steps and towards the trees.  

Just as I was stepping into the woods a voice sounded. "Mornin'." 

"It's not morning," I said without turning around. I was frozen in my tracks. I knew that voice. 

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it," it wasn't a question but a declaration. 

I looked up at the dark sky. The clouds looked heavy with rain. A fog was also settling over us, dampening my face and hair. I couldn't deny it, I loved days like these. "Yes. Beautiful."